A mother has been described as "courageous" after she "fought off" a dingo that attacked her two-year-old son at a popular tourist destination in Western Australia's north.
The boy suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries when he was set upon by the wild animal around 7pm on Friday at Dales Campground in Karijini National Park.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan praised the woman for her bravery, but described the incident as a "very rare event".
"His mother courageously fought off the dingo so she deserves our congratulations and she is obviously a very brave person," Mr McGowan said.
"The advice from the rangers is the dingo, if they can find the right one, will be destroyed."
The child has since been released from Tom Price District Hospital.
In a statement released on Sunday, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said the dingo was not seen during patrols over the weekend and remained "at large".
"Rangers were required to leave Dales Campground [on] Sunday afternoon to attend a separate, unrelated incident within Karijini National Park," the statement said.
"The campground hosts at Dales Campground are continuing to greet new arrivals, provide information to them about dingo safety and advise them to report any dingo sightings."
Parks and Wildlife Service rangers would continue to maintain a presence at the campground over the coming days to ensure campers were aware of the risk and continue to patrol for "problem dingoes".
On Saturday, a spokesperson from the department said the safety of visitors was its "number one priority".
"Dingo attacks are rare in West Australian national parks and the department is not aware of any similar incident in this area," the spokesperson said.
Signage at the campground warns visitors that dingoes may be present and provides advice on how to stay safe.
